Near the​​ end of a busy day, Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri settled into his seat on the dais and asked a favour of the reporters who had assembled below: “Can I wish my wife and daughter a Happy Valentine’s first?”

He smiled.

“Make sure you put that in there,” he said. “I’ve been gone for, like, eight days.”

And then he launched into an explanation of the other reason everyone had trundled out to the team’s practice facility: Toronto acquired power forward Serge Ibaka from the Orlando Magic for Terrence Ross and the lesser of the team’s two first-round draft picks this year.

“We’re happy to have a player of his calibre,” Ujiri said. “I think he gives our team a good boost, where we are right now. We’ll see what it brings us.”

On the timing of the move:
“Trades are hard to do, you know? He’s a guy that we’ve always had an eye on, but obviously, other teams do, too. And Orlando had him for a while. I think our team needed a boost, to be honest. And we’re at that point where I think everybody knows that — it’s not rocket science — that was a missing link on our team. Patrick (Patterson) has done a great job, but I think we needed a couple guys in that position, a prime guy in that position. And he’s one of the better power forwards in the league.

“Hopefully, he fits in with us. I know the time frame is short, but that’s why the trade deadline is now, and we can work from now ’til the playoffs. And I think, with where we are as a team, honestly — our team, the coaches, where Kyle (Lowry) and DeMar (DeRozan) are, our organization, fans — I think it’s a good boost for us to have, and see if we can bring us some good momentum.

On what the move means about how far he thinks the Raptors can go in the playoffs:
“With these things, you never know how it fits on paper. I’ll be honest: That’s why you think about it a lot. I think the basics are there for him. We’re coming off a good year. I think we’ve had a bad stretch, but I think so many things — I don’t want to give excuses here — but every team goes through a bad stretch. But I feel, with this kind of a player, we fill a hole, a gap that we’ve been missing. Hopefully, this gives us that jump that we need, to have a power forward of this calibre.”

On what he likes best about Ibaka:
“I think we can look at it both ways: Some people will say parts of his game have changed. He’s become a really good shooter, I think. I’ve known this guy for years. He’s a hell of a competitor. He brings playoff experience. He’s played in the NBA Finals before. Everybody knows who Serge is: He’s a warrior. I think every time he steps on the court, he competes. He’ll give us good rim protection. He’s a good defender. I think he can play multiple positions, too, which will help us.”

On whether recent comments from Lowry and DeRozan — suggesting they would welcome help — factored into making a trade:
“Uh, no. They almost hurt me, like, when I’m negotiating. [smiles] But that’s fine. It’s our job. We don’t sit on our butts and not do anything. We see what’s going on, and we’re trying to play the game, too. It’s not because they make comments that, right away, we go and do a deal. I wish it was that easy. We feel their frustrations, too, sometimes. And now, we got a player I think they will be appreciative of. And we work from there.

“It’s not because of that. I think, when you lose a few games like we have, there’s going to be frustrations from everywhere. And I think that’s what you’ve seen in the last couple days. I know our guys. I trust Kyle, DeMar, coach. These guys are going to bring it together and, with the help of Serge now and all our players, we go fight that war that is coming. And it starts tonight, I guess, and to the end of the season.”

On his thoughts heading into the summer with Ibaka, who is a pending free agent:
“Um, I think after the trade deadline, I’ll start to think more of that, you know? For now, I think we’ve got to tackle the trade deadline, and tackle some of what our team needs, a boost our team needs. And not necessarily a player, but every encouragement they need from us. In terms of the summer, I think, hey, we’ll cross that bridge when it comes. We’re happy to have the rights of these players. We’ll see how we perform and we’ll go from there.”

On chatting with Ibaka’s agent, and getting a sense about his feelings about Toronto long-term:
“I’ve spoken to (his agent). I haven’t spoken to Serge yet. I’m excited to speak to him. I’ve had a long relationship with Serge. I’m excited to speak to him. I haven’t spoken to him. I think he’s running around, trying to jump on a plane tonight, to come over here. But (his agent) told me he’s excited, and I’ll get to see him tomorrow, and speak to him tonight, at some point.”

On the possibility Ibaka is in the lineup for Wednesday night’s home game against Charlotte:
“I’m not sure. I don’t know. That’s going to be a goal for us. But I don’t know if it will work out that way. There’s so many things that have to be done between now and then. We’ll see how that works.”

On making more moves before the NBA trade deadline:
“It’s like I told you: I still have a phone. We’ll see what happens. As long as we still have a phone, we’ll see what goes on.”

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Sean Fitz-Gerald is the managing editor of The Athletic Toronto. As a reporter, he has covered the Olympics, Pan American Games, Super Bowl, Grey Cup, NHL playoffs and the NBA playoffs. In 2015, he was named sportswriter of the year by Sports Media Canada. Follow Sean on Twitter @SeanFitz_Gerald.